A common mistake is the urge to record a slow, serious tune that sounds preachy in both tone and message. There are endless examples and most of them are quickly forgotten. I know of two ways politically-minded musicians often escape the trap of boring, preachy, finger-pointing songs.
One is the storytelling approach, used most famously by Woody Guthrie and his legacy of musicians he inspired. Singing about personal experience, showing the world through another person's eyes, celebrating heroes, and mourning personal losses are very effective ways of spreading a message. People connect with it in a more personal way than a sweeping song about abstract concepts like peace or equality.
Ken Burns' latest documentary reminded me of Woody's heart-wrenching Dust Bowl Ballads, which were later mimicked by Springsteen's Ghost of Tom Joad. Some other favorites of mine are Living For the City by Stevie Wonder, and anything by Aunt Molly Jackson. It even works for country musicians who want to be left-leaning on the sly like Kenny Roger's anti-war hit Ruby, the Dixie Chick's Travelin' Soldier, or Johnny Cash's song about working class angst, Folsom Prison Blues.
The other trick is to dump the "let's slow it down and be serious" melodies with upbeat, catchy music that captures the performer's passion. Rage Against the Machine master that approach and so do The Coup.
The Coup - Sorry to Bother You
I've had this album on heavy rotation. I guess you could call it a hip-hop album but it's too eclectic for any one label. The opening song features an accordion. Their later take-down of inherited privilege features a kazoo, and naturally, the video has puppets using cocaine.
The activist crowd make up most of their fan base, but the Coup's popularity grows because both their lyrics and music are well thought out. I can't give any better review than quoting some of my favorite lines:
We wanna breathe fire and freedom from our lungs. Call homeland security, we are the bomb.
One day, we’re all gonna tip the scales, cause me and my crew are too big to fail.
Let me clarify things with the I strut, so I can shout with my mouth shut.
Home Ec can teach you how to make a few sauces and accept low pay from your Walmart bosses. If your school won't show you how to fight for what's needed, then they're training you to go through life and get cheated.
You are not a riot! You are the tight leather pants on the old ex-general!But, I like my favorite number from Bother more for it's musical style than the words.
You are not a riot! You are a condo complete with wall-to-wall carpet bomb.
The Coup played last weekend with a full band at the Mayne Stage in Chicago. Great show! I only wish they would have played longer. I tried showing up late to miss the first opener, but I'm glad I failed because Kev Choice has amazing talent.
Local H - Hallelujah! I'm a Bum
Remember Local H? They had an alt-rock hit in the 90's with Bound for the Floor. They're still hanging around in Chicago and I decided to buy their album released earlier this year after reading a good review that bragged of their more mature sound with a political message.
Other than a few sampled quotes from Bush administration warmongers and Sarah Palin, it's hard to tell this album is political without reading the lyrics online. Even with an amusingly titled song like They Saved Reagan's Brain, I'm not sure what their message is. About halfway through I started to think it was getting too predictably 90's, but that's when they they mixed things up for the second half. It worked.
What hooked me in is their song about my favorite form of public transportation, Chicago's L train! They have L sound recordings popping up around the album. "Doors closing." Thankfully, theirs is about the Blue Line, so my unfinished song about the Red Line won't come off like a copy.
Local H didn't produce an overtly political album like you get from the Coup, but there's good music here with some social commentary that's open to interpretation. I think people will enjoy it even if they don't share my unrequited love for the L.
So, the moral of the story is, worry about writing good music first. If people like the music, then you'll have an audience for your message, as long as you don't get too preachy and always stick to what you know.
